Tony Gilham will continue to pilot one of Team HARD’s Toyota Avensis’ this weekend at the penultimate British Touring Car Championship meeting of season at Silverstone, as regular driver Michael Caine continues his recovery from a back injury sustained at Knockhill.
Gilham took the reigns last time out at Rockingham with Caine, who aggravated a recurring back injury during the first race north of the Scottish border, endured a character-building return after almost a calendar year out of the seat, with a 24th placed finish in race one proving the highlight of a troubled weekend.
Despite the issues, Gilham is confident the team will be better prepared for the challenges awaiting them on the 1.64 mile National circuit this weekend, and is aiming to score his first points of the season.
“I’m back in the seat for the next BTCC round at Silverstone this weekend. Let’s hope for a better time than we had at Rockingham last time out,” said Gilham.
“This time I’m sure we will be better prepared and we will be aiming to pick up a point or two which will be the first of the year for the TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing car.”
He also revealed that Caine, whilst being close to fit enough to return to the fray, was advised not to make his comeback until the season finale at Brands Hatch in October, for fear of worsening his injury in the long term.
“Michael is very near to being fit to return but if we were to rush him back too early it could make his back even worse further down the line so he is concentrating on making sure he is fully fit and ready to make his return at Brands Hatch.”
With Team HARD currently enjoying success in their British GT exploits, Gilham admitted it will be interesting to see how he fares against his latest crop of youngsters breaking onto the national motorsport scene.
“We are all on a high after our recent GT success so I’ll be looking to chase our young guns round the track to see if the old boy can keep up!”